The University of Pennsylvania Academic Demolition Team is proud to announce Penn Bowl 12, the nation's largest packet-submission tournament. PB11 will be a timed tournament, held on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, on Friday and Saturday, 24-25 January 2003.

Exact times and locations will be announced later, but we expect game play to start around 7 PM on Friday and end around 7 PM on Saturday.

Major changes from last year's announcement are highlighted in yellow.

Updates

Who Can Play?

PB12 is open to teams of college students currently enrolled in degree-granting programs. "Chimera" and other "non-traditional" teams may be allowed to compete with permission of the tournament director, but, in general, will not be eligible to win the tournament.

Packets

Schools sending one team are required to submit a packet of 21 tossups and 21 boni, or to collaborate with a singleton team from another school on a packet of 36 tossups and 36 boni. [~Both~ teams must notify the tournament director of their intention to do so before submitting such a packet.].

For schools sending two or more teams, the A and B teams are jointly responsible for sending a packet of 36 tossups and 36 boni, which must be blind to any other teams from that school.

Teams that wish to submit more than the minimum required (for an additional discount), and teams planning to send more than two teams, should contact the tournament director for instructions before writing their questions.

Please note that failure to submit a packet by the regular deadline, 16 December 2001, may result in teams being dropped from the field.

Game Format

Currently, like Penn Bowl 11, rounds will be timed with 9-minute halves. Power tossups may be used; a final decision will be announced in January.

One of the questions on the PB12 registration form will ask whether teams registering would prefer rounds to be timed or untimed. If enough teams indicate a clear preference for an untimed tournament, then the tournament will be untimed; if that happens, the packet requirements will be reduced, and a revised distribution and fee schedule will be posted.

Tournament Format

We guarantee all teams the opportunity to play 14 games.

The format is subject to revision, but the playoff structure we plan to use is as follows:

After a four-bracket round robin, the top four teams in each bracket will advance. Teams will be ranked, probably 1 to 16, on the basis of overall record, record against other playoff teams, and then points scored against playoff teams.

The first three rounds of the playoffs will be 2-and-in/2-and-out: teams will play until they have won two matches or lost two matches. The remaining three rounds will be single-elimination.

In addition, there will be optional consolation matches for teams missing the playoffs who would like to play additional matches.

The field will be capped at an absolute maximum of 60 to 65 teams (depending on the final format). Moreover, we are starting registration at 45 teams; as we confirm the availabilty of staff and equipment, we will raise that limit appropriately.

Fees

Base feesFirst team
Second team
Third and subsequent teams

$140
$115
$100

Packet discountsExtremely early (4 November 2002)
Very early (11 November 2002)
Early (25 November 2001)

-$50 (full)/-$25 (half)
-$30/-$15
-$20/-$10

In addition, there will be an additional $20/$10 discount for the first three acceptable packets submitted before 26 November 2002.

*A fully-functional buzzer has eight working lockout mechanisms, each of which results in a sound and a light indicating who has buzzed in. A working buzzer system has at least seven working lockout mechanisms, with at least three per team producing both a sound and a light.

A school that qualifies for both a new school discount and a travel discount will receive the larger of the two discounts automatically. If an acceptable packet is submitted on time, 50% of the additional discount will also be awarded.

Minimum fee per team

$30

PenaltiesGross negligence of packet guidelines

+$15 and/or packet rejection

Registration

Schools may register as many teams as they want, and are urged to register as soon as possible. Registration will begin Sunday, 6 October 2002.

Until 1 November 2002, we will only accept twoteams per school into the field. After that date, we will accept teams on a first-come, first-serve basis, with the caveat that the PADT reserves the right to give priority in registration for schools bringing equipment and/or moderators. Should the field be filled, a wait-list will be created, with teams admitted into the field in the order they appear on the wait list.

Teams Registered

First Update: Tuesday, 8 October 2002
Registered: 0 | Wait-Listed: 0

Note: Teams listed in yellow did not compete at Penn Bowl 11.

SCHOOL

TEAMS

B/C/M

PACKET

ROSTER

Travel and Housing Information

Information will be posted over the next three weeks.

Freelancing/Mirrors

PADT is willing to provide a free set of questions to individuals or teams who are not competing at Penn Bowl who provide a set of questions for use at Penn Bowl.

In addition, we are always looking for freelance moderators; this year, we are able to pay freelance moderators $25, or provide housing overnight Friday.

Teams interested in hosting a mirror of Penn Bowl should contact the PADT.

Please contact the Penn Bowl staff for more information on any of the above.

Questions?

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free
to e-mail the Penn Bowl staff.

I look forward to seeing all of you in January. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me by clicking on the link below.